Star Wars Episode IX: Our Spark of Hope
by WizMonCruWil
Summary: My version for Episode IX. Last Jedi was amazing! If you haven't seen it, DO NOT READ -spoilers! Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

Kylo Ren stalks about the _Finalizer_ like a hungry animal in a cage. He is brooding, seething, his Force imprint rolling from his body in waves.

He should feel powerful - the last Jedi, the paranoid uncle who never gave him a chance, who only saw the powers of Ben Solo and not the person, is dead. Luke Skywalker is dead. Han Solo is dead. He has killed his uncle and his father. And he toppled his Master, the Supreme Leader! No Sith has ever dared to commit such murder!

So why does he not feel like the heir to the First Order, heir to the galaxy, that he is? He wishes it would take longer than it does to reach the answer. It's because of _her_. The Girl. Rey. The bewitching Jedi pretender who dared to spurn him, reject his offer to become his Queen. Queen of the Galaxy! Why would a poor scavenger not desire such riches?

The Force and his thoughts consume him so that Kylo Ren pays absolutely no attention to where he is walking. Sense of direction is thankfully not necessary, however, as First Order officers all but dive out of his way when he is observed stalking down the corridor. These subordinates do well to avoid him, not ask questions, not even look askance at him. The First Order is not about relationships. No military operation ever is. The only relationships that matter are those steeped in rank. This had been the Empire's way, Vader's way, and in Kylo's mind, it is chillingly practical.

The First Knight's meditation in motion is interrupted by the one person who could possibly not stand aside in a physical corridor and maybe get away with it: General Hux. Even so, Kylo Ren snaps at him as if just awoken from a deep slumber.

"What. Is. It?"

And then there is a sight the Sith never thought he would see: the General visibly gulps. He doesn't look remotely imposing anymore; with a pallour more ghastly than is even usual for his skin, he looks weak-chinned and feeble. Then again, Ren has never thought Hux was anything _but_ weak-chinned and feeble, but nevertheless has let the ginger-haired officer's fantasies go where they will. Until now. After choking Hux with the Force upon finding Snoke dead, there will be no more argumentative banter between them. And absolutely no questioning Kylo's ascension.

"Th... There is no sign of the Falcon, sir. We have no estimates on the number of Resistance survivors, but..."

"No more than twenty," Ren pronounces as if it is positive proof. Even then, his guess is liberal at best. The Falcon never seemed very big to him, even as a young boy. It always appeared as confining to him as the rest of his old life.

Hux wisely takes the total as confirmed, with a meek, "Yes, sir. And when we find them?"

"I want them," the mask not distorting the hatred the way it does Ren's voice. "Dead. All of them."

* * *

The sunlight sparkles off of Finn's ebony skin as he sends an errant kick into a mound of dirt. He leaps back in time to recognize it as an ant hill now disturbed.

"You're right, there's not much left," he calls back over his shoulder.

After fleeing Crait, the long flight to Ahch-To had been mostly silent and sullen. Forsaking the luxury of lightspeed, for fear that the First Order may have projected a tracker onto the Falcon during battle, had given the last of the Resistance time to see to the wounded... and count everyone up.

Unknowningly, Kylo Ren's estimate proved perfectly accurate. 20 life forms survived the Battle of Crait - including the three droids and Chewbacca.

But even then, the numbers would dwindle.

Deep in space, one hellish night had seen Rose Tico's life support fail her. Finn had been understandably distraught. And then, General Leia herself had passed due to what many believed was a broken heart for her brother. No sign of a body was ever found, which befuddled many until Rey informed everyone that she felt Leia become one with the Force.

Now, the Resistance is down to a mere 18. Finn looks back upon not hearing a reply right away to see Rey on a rocky outcropping, sadly holding what look to be Jedi robes.

"No, there wouldn't be, would there?" She murmurs despondently. "Master Skywalker lived a meager existence near the end of his life."

"I'll say!" The voice emanates from a stone hut before Poe Dameron's head can catch up with it, poking his crop of black hair out of the entryway. "This shack even has a hole in it!"

"Oh, that was me. I shot a blaster through the wall," Rey fesses up, a little embarrassed.

Across the way, Commander D'Acy inspects another Hut. "At least yours has a door, Dameron! This one's been blasted off its hinges!"

Rey jogs over. "That was also me. I Force pushed it. Luke wasn't very keen on meeting me when I first arrived."

At this, Poe gets a idiotic grin on his face and stares at an unsuspecting Rey with pure admiration, warranting a questioning look and silent _You OK?_ from Finn.

Remembering this hut to be Master Skywalker's, Rey ducks in to salvage what she can. Another pair of Jedi robes. Some wooden hangers. But she has all the Jedi texts. And there is no lightsaber. She brings what little remains out to her friends.

"Commander D'Acy, take these to the ship for safekeeping. Captain Peavey, scout ahead to set up a perimeter." She seems to notice Poe for the first time since they were introduced on the Falcon. "And what are you staring at?"

"You're beautiful when you get assertive," Poe practically drools, the same shit-eating grin on his face.

Rey stiffens with a frown, flushing as she briskly bustles past him. Finn's eyes narrow at the exchange, even as he and Poe follow Rey back to the Falcon. Though Poe has accepted the mantle as Leia's successor, the Resistance looks to Rey for guidance, as she is truly now the Last Jedi.

Rey tucks herself away in a corner, pulling out the Jedi texts and pouring over them. She should have suspected that Luke would not have a spare lightsaber, given how totally he exiled himself from the Force. But... barring that...

She leafs through the first manuscript, the leather bound pages trickling through her fingers. The Journals of...

"Finn? Have you ever heard of Obi-Wan Kenobi?"

Finn's head snaps up from where he has been inspecting the wiring through the trapdoor. "Of course. We... were programmed on old Holonets of him, to train in... hunting Luke." He drifts closer, staring. "Is that...?"

Rey holds up the book with a tight smile. "His journals. I'm going to build a lightsaber with it."

Finn and Poe sit cross-legged beside her, rifling through the other texts. "Where did you get these?" Poe asks.

"I smuggled them onto the ship when I left. Luke wanted to destroy them."

Both men seem shocked, but do not press Rey on why. If she wants to extrapolate further, she will. Rey frowns as she traces a hand along the instructions for building a lightsaber, many of them hand-drawn. "It takes much meditation, concentration... it's tricky..."

"We can help," Poe volunteers eagerly, gesturing between himself and Finn.

Rey raises her eyes to him, taken aback, but also... touched. "Sure. Thank you."

* * *

Gradually, over the next few weeks, the Resistance sets up a meager base on Ahch-To. There is not much an ex-Stormtrooper, a Jedi-in-training, a pilot, a Wookie, three droids and a dozen soldiers can do, but the little band makes the best of it. The Caretakers are eager to help, and Rey shows her skeptical friends how to harness green milk. Not everyone is at ease about the chosen location, as it is a historic refuge for Jedi. Luke's lingering presence only adds to the nerves.

Zeb, an elderly Resistance fighter, is particularly concerned. "How do we know that Ren fellow won't track us here?"

"Snoke read my mind on Luke's location, but he's dead. Kylo was never made privy to that information," Rey assures him. Although she feels she is convincing herself just as much as him.

There is not much on the island in way of metallurgy, to create a lightsaber hilt. But Rey is inspired to repurpose her Jakku staff.

"When it's finished, the lightsaber blade will come out both ends," she explains to Poe and Finn, as they watch her tinkering one morning on what has been dubbed Shaved Rock Ridge.

Finn grins. "Wicked! Say, I think there used to be a Sith many years ago who had a design like that. Cause one time, I caught Kylo Ren watching old Holonets of this guy with double red blades. He was a... Zabrak, I think. At least, he looked like a Zabrak."

"How powerful _is_ a lightsaber, anyway?" Poe wonders aloud.

"Powerful enough to slice through rock," Rey answers without looking up from her staff.

"How do you know that?" Poe questions.

"Because THAT was also me," and Rey points back to Shaved Rock, remembering the blue lightsaber that once belonged to Luke's dad. The lightsaber she and Ben destroyed. "The Caretakers weren't too happy with me."

Poe beams, once again completely enamored with her. Finn feels an odd impulse to glare at the pilot, though where such an impulse comes from, he cannot say.

"Right," Rey announces, standing up to inspect her staff. "There's just one thing left. Kenobi's Journals say I need a kyber crystal."

"A what-now?" Finn garbles.

"A kyber crystal. It's the source of a lightsaber blade's energy."

"Great," Poe grins tightly, enthusiastically ready to assist. "Where do we get one?"

Rey half-scoffs, half-laughs. "Not here. They're in caves. The Caves of Illum."

Finn and Poe exchange glances. A mission. Leaving the island. On likely the most-wanted ship in the galaxy. And does Rey think she will go on her own?

No. Finn stands and suddenly wraps her in a hug. The gesture surprises Rey, but she accepts it, because it is Finn.

"We're coming with you," her first true friend declares.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

The day that the trio is scheduled to depart brings the first true squall on Ahch-To since the Resistance's arrival. No one is amused, least of all Zeb. Even Poe is a little miffed.

"Jeez, how often do these storms whip up?" He hollers to Rey over the gale.

"It starts with the winds, almost every day. But the storms are merciless. Once a week, if not more frequent," Rey replies. She strides up the gangway of the Falcon with the men at her heels. She will be piloting to Illum, with Poe as her co-pilot. Finn will be the gunner, and BB8 will serve as technician. Chewbacca has given the group the Falcon with his blessing, and a condition that it be brought back quickly and in one piece.

As they journey through the skies at normal pace (at a time like this, she really wishes they could use lightspeed freely), Rey observes Poe piloting. He seems to know just as much as her, if not more. But he is always respectful and deferent to her status as the Captain. Since meeting him before take-off from Crait, Rey has always thought him to be brash and a little egotistical, based on the stories she has heard of his death-defying feats. But with her and in the flesh, he is humble and unusually soft-spoken. And it's clear she is not the only one to notice, as Finn's surprised and pleased glances Poe's way makes her wonder if the Resistance pilot was always like this.

It takes a whole day and the better part of traveling through the night before the trio reach Illum. The snow whips about the Falcon's thrusters as it takes down for a landing, and Poe looks like he actually misses the torrential squalls on Ahch-To. Pulling on parkas and gloves, the trio march off the gangway and into the snow, approaching the opening to a pretty impressive cave. From a few yards away, Rey turns to Finn and Poe.

"Only a Jedi or Force-sensitive can enter the caves of Illum," she explains. "I must go in alone. If anything happens, I will yell towards the entrance so it will echo and then try to exit and reach you."

Finn and Poe look concerned that neither of them will be able to go in after her should trouble befall her. Poe even looks like he wants to kiss her or something, so Rey busies herself by hugging Finn before Poe gets the chance. Only remembering it would look weird if she didn't acknowledge Poe too, so she settles for an awkward hug as means of goodbye. Then the Jedi-in-training rolls her shoulders back and, steeling a shuddering breath that is caught in puffs on the chilly air, strides into the Cave.

Darkness envelops her upon first arriving in its surroundings, and Rey almost instinctively reaches for a lightsaber that is not there. All she can do is let her eyes get used to the dark and reach out into the gloom through the Force.

Upon acclimation, Rey discovers that the Caves of Illum are covered on nearly all sides by ice as flawless as mirrors. Mirrors as flawless as the one she discovered in the depths below Ahch-To. Only these ice walls distort her features in subtle, yet startling ways. They show Rey not as she is, but as she might be in another lifetime, in another world, in another galaxy.

Reaching the base of a high rock wall, Rey climbs halfway up it until she tires and Force leaps the rest of the way. It is after this obstacle that she first hears the voice - a male's voice that she has only heard in dreams.

"Do you really think you are worth something now? You were never worth something to us - just a nuisance."

Rey spins about on the spot, eyes wide and her breath coming out in rough gasps. That voice... long ago, she had a name to go with it. But it was just a symbolic title.

"Daddy?"

But it is a female voice who answers. "You dare to speak that name to him? After showing us such little respect? An inconvenience?"

"Mother?" Rey practically squeaks.

And then, two figures appear in place of Rey's reflection. They are dirty and sand clings to their rumpled and torn clothing. Junkies. Every much the nobodies that Kylo Ren had described.

"We were better without you, happier without you," the male - Rey's father - hisses. "You did nothing but drag us down; we could never get the booze we needed to sell."

Ah, now she remembers. Her parents claimed to sell booze to the outposts on Jakku, along with various junk on occasion. But more often, the booze they needed to sell ended up serving as self-consumption.

"That Sith spoke the truth," Rey's mother hisses. "You are nobody, but it is not our doing. You did it to yourself." Her words are spat with the cruelty and fire of a lightsaber burn to the skin.

This careless dismissal of her identity and worth fills Rey with sorrow, only to be quickly followed by an all-encompassing rage. "No," Rey snarls. "You abandoned me. And I waited faithfully like a puppy, a mouse, a worm for you to come back. I wanted to know who you were, only to find out that you weren't worth knowing. You have never been, and you never will be, my mother!"

Her testament drives the reflection of her parents away faster than blaster fire. But it is only after they are gone that Rey bursts into tears - a mixture of despair at Ren's veracity and relief at closure.

And then, amidst the tears, purple light pierces through the hands Rey has pressed to her eyes. Blinking back the salt, she spies it - a crystal shaped stone, violet in color. Her kyber crystal - the color mix of red and blue. The Dark and the Light. How fitting. Picking them up, she inserts them into her staff. Waiting a few moments, she activates both ends, and stares in wonder at the pure purple blades that emanate from either side.

Satisfied, she turns the lightsaber staff off and is about to turn for safety and freedom from the cave, when an image makes her stop dead. Her blood runs as cold as the ice in the cave.

She should know by now that he is just an image, a trick of the Force Bond they share. Yet it feels like he is right here in the Cave with her.

"I told you they were nobodies. Now do you believe me?"

Rey's throat constricts. "Yes."

"Do you regret leaving me?"

Her eyes burn. "Never!"

"Where are you? I can't see your surroundings."

Rey smirks in satisfaction. "Good. I'm somewhere that will help me rebuild the Jedi!"

"A quest you will fail in!" Ren bellows, his rage popping to the surface like the retort of an engine. "And I will kill all who might help you, all you care about! Like I killed Han Solo! Like I killed Luke Skywalker!"

"You didn't kill Luke! He became one with the Force!" Rey shrieks.

"Maybe so, but I drove him to it! And I will drive away everyone you love!"

"NO!" Rey wails, banishing him from her mind, severing the Bond. In tears, she stumbles from the cave and out into the snow. Finn sees her first.

"Poe!"

Rey lets herself collapse into the men's arms, and they half-carry her to the Falcon.

* * *

Rey refuses to speak for the entire ride back to the island. It is only when they have reached the little hut she has fashioned for herself back on Ahch-To that she begins to open up. Her tale is met with some skepticism and protective denial.

"How can you say Kylo Ren spoke to you? He's halfway across the galaxy! He can do nothing to you!" Finn insists.

Rey's eyes flash, but not in anger. No, amazement at Finn's naïveté, even if part of it is no fault of his own. Finn is no Jedi, but as an ex-Stormtrooper, he should know damn well what Kylo Ren is capable of. " _Nothing_!" She rests her chin in her hand as she ponders how best to broach this most painful of subjects. Finally, voice breaking: "He showed me my parents."

Finn stares. " _What?!_ "

"They sold me. They _sold_ me for drinking money! They were nobody junk traders. I never even got to say goodbye. I never got to wonder what I did wrong..."

A chastened Finn approaches tentatively. "Rey... I didn't know. You're safe now. You have a home... the Force... two men who love you - everything you could want..."

Rey steps back, as it struck dumb, before Finn even realizes what he has admitted. Perhaps he shouldn't have even spoken for Poe (though Poe has made his infatuation pretty obvious), never mind himself. "You... you _what_? You... _love_ me?"

Finn gulps at the realization of his confession. Gathering his courage, he swoops Rey into his arms and kisses her lips. She squeaks against him, stiffening, yet giving him the opening he needs and his tongue is in her mouth. Oh, Force... how could she have gone without this? And Rey is soon moaning, kissing Finn back, lowering both their forms to the meager bed. Neither notice Poe slink sadly away as they begin to make love...

It is only later that Rey slips outside, wrapped in nothing but a sheet despite the torrential rain. Poe is sitting vigil on the front stoop of the hut. Remembering Finn's claim, she boldly asks of the roguish pilot:

"Are you really in love with me?"

He turns to face her as she sits next to him. "Yes, Rey. You're strong and funny and an amazing pilot and beautiful..."

He's tripping over his own words; she can see it. Rey gives him a look between sympathy and amusement before leaning in and capturing his lips with hers. They hold the kiss for a moment before they break apart.

"Well, for what it's worth... maybe you'd better come back in," Rey prompts. Before they both catch their death from cold.

Inside, and in full view of Finn, Rey kisses Poe again, undressing him and straddling him on the bed as she begins to make love with the handsome Resistance leader.

Later, wrapped in the arms of both her lovers - her pilot and her Stormtrooper - Rey's voice pings into the darkness.

"Finn? Poe?"

"Yeah?" Both men chorus.

"... I'm pregnant."


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

In retrospect, she does not know why she did not suspect it sooner. Why she needs the Force to tell her as she made love seemingly for the first time. For Finn is not her first. Her first was in the interrogation room on board the _Finalizer_. As she was unconscious, the Sith prince Kylo Ren conquered her for himself. She only notices the blood and stickiness coating her inner thighs on the escape from Starkiller Base. Otherwise, she has no memory of the heinous coupling. Was he a ghost? Was he a dream? Or something in between? That made her body laugh and cry? Well, mostly cry.

Over the next many months, Poe and Finn live with Rey in her simple hut on the island. The flimsy Resistance band becomes its own little community, and it soon becomes unnervingly easy for them to withdraw from the outside galaxy. The prospect is all too tempting. The only exception is for Rey to order that some of the Resistance fighters fly out on bombing missions or try and sign up new recruits. The first task is far more successful than the second. And none of their men have been yet captured by the First Order. Still, that does not stop Rey from forbidding Poe from flying on these missions, as she would fret for his safety. Because he loves her, Poe acquiesces to her wishes, though his adventurous soul remains restless.

One morning, down by the shore, Finn, Poe and Zeb are hollowing out a tree trunk to make a canoe for sailing around the island for fishing. Luke Skywalker's method for plucking sustenance from the sea - via the use of a long wooden pole - was only attempted a few times before a majority of the Resistance believed it to be too dangerous. What if somebody fell? Poe sends a makeshift axe blade into the wood, digging away, pausing only to stoke the fire. Carrying on the wind, he can hear Rey singing a simple tune, as (being steadily more pregnant) she has taken a break from training to decorate the hut and prepare the baby's nursery:

 _"I know you, I've walked with you once upon a dream. I know you, the gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. And I know it's true that visions are seldom all they seem... Da da da, da da..."_

As he works, Finn is recording in a logbook the species of creatures they have met on Ahch-To, cross-referencing them with a book found amongst General Leia's old belongings.

"Here it is - anteater! Ahch-Toian anteater, known for its nutritious supply of green milk and for residing on the spacious plains of Ahch-To." He looks around, but the only spacious plains he sees are miles of ocean. "That can mean only one thing: a land bridge! Now, I bet millennia ago, there was more land than sea on this planet - and this island is all that's left of it. Now, that would explain how so many types of animals came to be trapped here!"

"It's an interesting theory," Poe muses. "What do you think about it, Zeb?"

The elderly Lasat smirks as he entertains the thought. "Well, I suppose there could have been one - a long time ago. I wonder if this kind of erosion happened on other worlds as well. There's only one way to find out..." He leans towards Poe eagerly, the familiar topic on his tongue. "Why don't you ask her again, Poe? Maybe she'll change her mind!"

Poe gives a humorless chuckle. "You know how Rey feels about that."

"But after all, Rey wants to someday get off this island as much as we do! And there might be something useful out there! A station! An outpost - someplace where ships come in! Resistance sympathizers!" Finn entreats eagerly.

Poe lays down his axe. "Well, if the opportunity presents itself, I suppose I could take it up with her again..." He picks up Finn's logbook and leafs through it. "What's this? Caretakers... Porgs..."

Finn laughs. "That's the list of animals we've identified so far."

"Anteater..."

There is a howl as Chewbacca suddenly lumbers past, chasing BB8. Poe smirks.

"Wookie." And he records it in the logbook.

* * *

Several months later, it is a night of torrential rain as Rey lies flat on their makeshift bed in the hut, screaming and wailing in unbearable pain. Finn and Poe flank her on either side.

After Captain Lacy delivers the baby and pronounces it a boy many hours later, Rey takes the bundle in her arms. He may have been conceived in anger and force, but this little boy will only know love from her. And upon seeing the black tufts of hair on the top of his head, Rey knows he is a Solo, through and through.

So she gives him a Solo name.

"Han. Han Solo."

* * *

Far away in deep space, General Hut is startled to be summoned to Kylo Ren's chambers. Upon entering, he sees Ren in his private chair - an egg-like contraption similar to one Darth Vader supposedly used for his own seclusion.

"You asked to see me, Supreme Leader?"

Kylo is silent for a moment, the mask on his face ever so slightly twitching from side to side. "Kylo Ren's mistress is with child."

Aside from the unusual instance of Kylo referring to himself in the third person, Hux is flabbergasted. "Good heavens! Are you certain?"

"I have... felt him. My son..."

"And who is his mother?" Hux presses before he can stop himself. He expects for such insolence to be punished; it is not his place to know. But instead, Kylo freely gives an answer.

"The girl they call... Rey..."

Hux nearly chokes. "The Jedi? The scavenger from Jakku?"

"I had her in my chambers... when she was a prisoner..."

Even if it is partly a lie, Ren need not say more. Hux knows it had to have been a rape. Kylo takes. He does not receive and he does not beg for favors, sexual or otherwise. But Hux dare not voice these thoughts aloud, for fear of landing a bruise to Kylo Ren's already fragile ego and thus earning the Supreme Leader's wrath.

"I must find this boy," Kylo resolves, standing after a long silence. "I must find... _her_... and make her my Queen."

Hux gulps. By _I must_ , Ren really means _you must_. Finding the last of the Resistance will be Hux's job. "Yes, my lord."

And he all but runs from the chamber.

* * *

It is rare for night to fall on Ahch-To and for there not to be a squall, or even heavy winds. The evening is blissfully, gratefully peaceful as Rey rocks her baby to sleep by the light of the fire. Poe and Finn watch with tired smiles from the bed the three share. Rey finally lays baby Han in the crude cradle the Resistance made for her and the child.

 _"Tender shepherd, tender shepherd, let me help you count your sheep. One, say your prayers and two, close your eyes and three, safe and happily fall asleep... Fall asleep..."_

And out he goes, by the close of the lullaby. Rey kisses his forehead tenderly, sending her thoughts of undying love into his head through the Force. "Sweet dreams, my little Jedi..."


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

As the months pass and baby Han grows, Rey and Finn and Poe fall more deeply in love. The feelings even blossom so that they flicker in every direction between the trio. Rey discovers this one morning after taking little Han out for a walk, only to find Poe and Finn kissing on their bed. The sight fills her with happiness... and also deep arousal. Even seeing her men together can make her terribly jealous. Her flaring feelings cause her to become steadily more protective of her lovers.

And for Poe especially to become far more restless. He sees his friends returning from successful bombing campaigns, from getting more supplies, bringing in the stray recruit or two. And he knows he should be out there, helping the fight. It's where he belongs.

But not in Rey's eyes. She sees Poe's place as here, with her and the baby and Finn. So he can be a father. The clashing ideals lead to the pilot and Jedi apprentice having a heated argument one night, so loudly almost that Finn has to shush them several times so as not to wake the baby.

But at last, Rey relents. "If this is something you really want to do... I will accept it." And she grants Poe her permission to leave with the next bombing campaign.

* * *

The morning that Poe is to leave - with Zeb and a few others - dawns sunny and with plenty of early dew. The rest of the Resistance waits on the stony platform where Chewie once landed the Falcon in search of Luke Skywalker.

Poe kisses Finn goodbye, ruffles Han's hair and proceeds to his X-wing, his helmet under his arm. Watching him go, Rey suddenly feels a great terror well up in her and she races after him.

"Poe!"

"What?"

And the next moment, she is in his arms, nearly squishing the baby between them. She is kissing him. Really _kissing_ him. It feels like this is the first kiss they have ever shared. And Poe is triumphantly kissing her back. After what feels like several sunlit Naboo days, they break apart. Poe gives her a dashing smile.

"I love you, Rey."

"Be careful," she implores, keeping him in her arms for a moment more.

* * *

The bombing campaign over the Cadrila system has gone well thus far. No lives have been lost from the Resistance, and Poe and BB8 are cooking with gas.

"Come on, buddy, happy beeps, happy beeps... just one more payload and we get to go home to Rey and the baby!" Poe coaches.

Just then, firepower slams into the side of Poe's X-Wing, spinning him out of control.

"BB8, work your magic!" He tells his droid.

But even the most impressive of droid repairs cannot get Poe out of the gravitational pull that suddenly envelops his ship, as he is dragged into the hull of the _Finalizer_ and watches his friends flee without him.

* * *

Poe almost misses the interrogation chair. It has been a while since he last was in it.

But he certainly didn't miss Kylo Ren. Especially now that he realizes the Sith has another identity... little Han's father...

"Where is the Resistance?"

"That's on a need-to-know basis," Poe cockily shoots back.

"Where is the Jedi?" He means Rey.

"I'd rather _die_ than tell you!" Poe hisses intensely.

Kylo steps closer, reaching out his hand to probe through the Force. "I feel your love for her... the anxiousness to return to her..." He presses harder, only to have images flash before him that should by all rights send him crumpling to his knees. But he can't feel weak in front of Dameron.

 _Rey laughing and giggling as a man plants feathery kisses along her face and naked body... a bed... in a tiny hut... Rey making love with this pilot and the traitor FN-2187..._

"You have lain with her," he states.

At this, Poe actually grins. He does not need the Force to hear in Ren's voice that the poor bastard is as jealous as a horny teenager. " _Yes_ ," he hisses with relish. "Something you will never do again! You will never touch her again!"

Ren roars in rage and sends the Force full-bore into Poe's mind, torturing him until he gets what he needs. The location of his child and its mother and the insignificant Resistance.


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

Or _does_ he get what he needs? In the end, Poe isn't sure exactly how he does it. How he conjures up Rey in a different location and lets Kylo Ren take that false information on a wild Bantha chase. Poe isn't a Force user, but all the same, Ren buys the bullshit story that the Resistance is on Dagobah as is.

Then, Poe manages to free one hand from his restraints, seize a Stormtrooper's blaster, and shoot his way out of his holding cell. Steals a TIE fighter in the middle of the night and flies it out amidst a scouting mission, before peeling off and safely jumping to hyperspace for Ahch-To. The First Order wouldn't track their _own_ ships through hyperspace.

Upon approaching the island, Poe waves a white flag of truce out the fighter's window to avoid being shot down by his friends on the ground. He crashlands the TIE into the sea and lets it sink, bailing out and swimming for shore. Rey launches herself at him, her tears falling on his face and mixing in with the kisses she now covers him with.

"Thank the Maker! Are you hurt?!" She cradles his cheeks in her hands, her eyes searching Poe's desperately.

Poe tells them all how he tricked Kylo Ren, but that it might be only a matter of time before the Sith and his lot come poking around the Ahch-To system.

Kylo Ren's perceived closing in is just the motivation Rey needs to leave the island planet hideaway herself. Not permanently, but at least with a new sense of purpose.

"I want to hunt down Force sensitives," she tells her two lovers. "Are you with me?"

Because it is the first world that comes to mind, Finn suggests that they return to Canto Bight. The trio leave baby Han with Zeb. Rey kisses the child tenderly before handing the bundle to the Lasat.

"Be good! Mommy loves you, my little Han!"

* * *

Rey is in awe of the glitz and riches when they first land on Canto Bight, as only a poor scavenger from Jakku would be. Finn is careful to remove the starry-eyed images from her mind, in favor of the harsher and more sobering realities, as Rose did for him. Flying the Falcon was deemed too great a risk, so Rey resurrected the drowned TIE fighter and drained it with the Force. With that kind of transport, she and Poe and Finn blend in perfectly.

Finn leads them to where the Fathiers are kept. Finn discovers Rose's Resistance ring on the finger of one of the child handlers. The boy introduces himself as Temiri Blagg.

Suddenly, Temiri's slave driver tries to bully the boy away from the visitors. Rey dispatches him with her lightsaber staff, to Temiri's amazement.

"Jedi..." the boy breathes. "You're like me?"

Rey gazes at him. "What do you mean, my child?"

So Temiri shows Rey how he can use the Force to summon a broom to him. Rey grins and takes the boy under her wing. The trio boldly escape in the TIE fighter with Temiri, after Rey uses the Force to mind-wipe his handler.

* * *

Missions like these continue every few weeks, with the Resistance gathering intelligence on Force sensitives and Rey going in to rescue them and spirit them back to Ahch-To. Sometimes, her lovers Finn and Poe go with her. Sometimes, she encounters one of the handful of Luke's old students who survived Kylo Ren's original attack on the New Jedi Order.

On Ahch-To, Rey begins training a small group of about 10 students in the ways of the Force, varying widely in age, Temiri among them. Little Han soon joins them as he grows. Rey's Padawans know enough about their Master to understand her connection to the little Solo, and her love for Finn and Poe. The trio even marry in secret on the island, with Rey's students attending to her as the bride.

More Resistance recruits answer the call, until Ahch-To is a thriving base. But all the while, Rey is uneasy. Occasionally, Ren will activate their Force Bond, though he can't see her location.

"Where is our son?" He asks her at one point.

Rey rebuffs him. "That is not your concern, you monster! Why did you strike down your uncle?" Ren has yet to give her an answer.

"Are you training little Jedi?" He taunts her another time.

"Yes," she is happy to answer him this time. "And we will bring you down!" Rey instructs her students to resist Kylo's attempted invasion of their minds through the Force.

Yet every night, Rey will look up at the sky from Shaved Rock Ridge and wonder:

 _What is he waiting for? What is he waiting for?_

* * *

A warning of incoming TIE fighters from Commander D'Acy is all that saves them.

Poe and Zeb and a few others bravely engage in the ships the Resistance has managed to accumulate through theft and other means. But Kylo and his Knights manage to land.

Rey and her dozen Jedi scramble up and down the slopes of the island, fortifying Ahch-To's defenses before charging into battle. Rey takes on Kylo Ren himself, the last Knight standing after her students take out the other six. Temiri and her son Han help her by hurling distractions at the Sith through the Force.

At last, Rey slices off Ren's lightsaber hand, unknowingly continuing a long Skywalker tradition, before beheading the Supreme Leader. Just before he dies, Ren confesses, "I have always loved you, Rey. May the Force be with You." It is a small attempt at redemption, at reclaiming the Light that Ben Solo rejected throughout his life.

With their Supreme Leader dead and all his Knights with him, the First Order dissolves into factional chaos, with no clear leader. Poe leads the Resistance and Rey's Jedi in an audacious final charge over Mustafar, bringing down the First Order's mighty ships into the lava below.

Rey's Jedi Order remains on Ahch-To, where they can remain close to the ancient texts and the Force inhabiting the island. Han Solo II becomes a Master of the Jedi in his own right, pleasing his mother as he works alongside her.

And every night, Jedi Master Rey dismisses her colleagues with, "May the Force be with you." And every night in her marriage bed with her husbands, she repeats this to Poe and Finn like a prayer, whispering it after the three make love.

The galaxy is at peace. The saga ends. The Jedi are reborn. Light and Darkness in balance with the Force.


End file.
